Gokyo Lakes Trek emergency & health guide: hospitals, rescue, altitude and permits

Emergency numbers

Nepal has no public mountain rescue service. Above Lukla a sick or injured trekker walks down, rides a horse or is flown out by a private helicopter, which your insurer's assistance line or your lodge arranges; helicopters cannot fly in cloud or at night. Buy insurance that covers trekking up to 5,500 m and helicopter evacuation, and keep the policy number and assistance number on paper and on your phone.

Rules to know

• Permits: the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality permit costs NPR 3,000 (NPR 2,000 for SAARC and Chinese nationals) and is sold in Lukla or Monjo; the Sagarmatha National Park permit costs NPR 3,000 plus 13% VAT and is sold at the park counter in Monjo or at the Nepal Tourism Board in Kathmandu. Pay in cash, carry your passport, and keep both permits for the checkpoints at Jorsale, Namche and Phortse Tenga. No TIMS card is needed.
• Guides: since 2023 Nepal requires foreign trekkers in national parks to use a licensed guide or porter. In the Khumbu this has not been enforced and independent trekkers still walk to Gokyo in 2026, but the rule can change: check before you go. A guide also helps with lodge bookings and with a rescue.
• Altitude: above 3,000 m try not to sleep more than about 500 m higher each night, and take a rest day in Namche. Headache, nausea and poor sleep mean stop and rest; confusion, unsteady walking or breathlessness at rest mean go down at once.
• Yaks, mules and porters have right of way. Wait on the mountain side of the path, never on the drop side, and on suspension bridges let caravans cross first.
• Gokyo Lakes are a Ramsar wetland and sacred to Hindus and Buddhists. Do not wash, use soap or leave rubbish at the lakes, and carry used batteries and plastic back down.
• Drones need permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and the Home Ministry, and in the Everest region also from Sagarmatha National Park; unpermitted drones have been seized.
• Lukla flights: the baggage limit is usually about 15 kg including hand luggage, and flights are often delayed by cloud. In the peak seasons most flights leave from Manthali (Ramechhap), 4 to 5 hours by road from Kathmandu. Keep one or two spare days.
• Cho La: the pass (about 5,420 m) between Gokyo and the Everest Base Camp route has a small, often icy glacier. Cross only acclimatised, in good weather, with microspikes and ideally a guide.

Before you set off, check the latest permit rules with the Nepal Tourism Board in Kathmandu or Sagarmatha National Park (+977 38 540114, snp.namche@gmail.com). Mobile data works in Lukla and Namche and only in places higher up; lodges sell wifi cards. Tell your next lodge when you expect to arrive, and do not walk alone above Namche.

Nearest hospital for each stage

Hospitals

Clinics and doctors

These small hospitals and clinics treat altitude sickness, minor injuries and illness, but none has a confirmed 24-hour emergency department. Serious cases are flown to Kathmandu. Above Namche there is no reliable doctor: the clinic once run by volunteer doctors in Machhermo closed in 2020.

Pharmacies, cash and supplies

• Pharmacies: Namche Bazaar
• ATMs: Lukla, Namche Bazaar
• Shops: Phakding, Namche Bazaar
• Bus stops:

Pharmacies are only in Lukla and Namche Bazaar. There are none in Dole, Machhermo or Gokyo, so carry a first-aid kit, blister care, diarrhoea treatment and, after talking to a doctor, acetazolamide for altitude sickness. Carry cash in Nepali rupees for the whole trek: there are ATMs in Lukla and Namche only, they sometimes run dry, and lodges take cash.

Pharmacies, ATMs, shops and stops: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hospitals and health centres checked online.